Regardless of what year you are, you may wonder, “What will life be like after Geneseo?” or “Am I doing the right things now to get ahead later?” Alumnae Rejoyce Owusu '11, Elizabeth Lawrence '12 and Krista Muscarella '12 reflected on their involvement at Geneseo on Sept. 27 as part of a workshop held by Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development and the Alumni Leadership Lessons. They said their co-curricular involvement mainly contributed to the success in their post-Geneseo lives.
After pursuing double majors in psychology and sociology, Muscarella moved to Los Angeles for 10 months to work for City Year, an education group dedicated to working with diverse, under-resourced schools.
While Muscarella said she never expected she would go into the field of education, she said the GOLD program prepared her for this unexpected experience.
“[City Year] is a very diverse group,” Muscarella said. “When I was having my phone interview, they asked me about diversity. I learned a lot about diversity through the workshops and I was able to take what I learned … and apply it to [the job].”
Owusu used her bachelor's degree in business administration to work for Target in managerial operations in Penfield, N.Y. for a year and a half. Now she is pursuing her master's of business administration degree at the Simon School of Business in Rochester while working for ESL Federal Credit Union.
Owusu said she attributes much of who she is today to her experiences at Geneseo.
“I don't think I would change anything [I did at Geneseo],” Owusu said. “Yes, we were really busy … but at the end of the day I look what I gained from that; I can plan anything and execute it because I've been there before.”
Lawrence currently works in a finance program at Bank of America in Charlotte,
N.C. She said that the GOLD program helped her sense of navigation through her career.
“You're in the driver's seat with the GOLD program, so you can really tailor it to what you want to get out of it,” Lawrence said. “That's been [an] important aspect early in my career, knowing that there are so many things where I might be afraid to ask for a different opportunity … but it's about you saying 'I'm here, do you need anything?'”
While all three alumnae said they are happy with what Geneseo taught them to get to where they are, they also said it is nice to come back.
“This was a second home for us for four years,” Owusu said. “It feels good to see people we've been on campus with. It's still going to be our second home.”